This quote is from "Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." It describes Detroit's mayor Mike Duggan, whose reign over the rewhitealization of Detroit is marked by back room deals, bribes, vindictive acts against any who dare question his ambitions and projects.
Detroit is the only city in the state of Michigan whose library and school money is diverted to the #DowntownDevelopmentAuthority. Billionaires receive money for their developments which deprives Detroit's taxpayers of library and school funds. We have the lowest academic scores in the state and our libraries are in a shambles. Not because we can't afford to repair them, but because the money intended for them is looted by billionaires- Dan Gilbert, Ilitch Holdings, Stephen Ross, all of whom are wealthy and at least one is actually already dead.
To understand this arrangement, one would have to understand Duggan's influence over the legislature. ONLY Detroit is subject to #taxcaptures. This term is self explanatory: a portion of our taxes are captured and given to developers, who do not pay into Detroit's infrastructure. In other words, working class people- many of whose pensions were taken from them during the contrived bankruptcy- where the creditor and the debtor were one and the same: Jones Day, Duggan has overseen the greatest transfer of Black wealth to white billionaires Detroit has witnessed. Once the largest center of Black home ownership in the country, Detroit's residents are now majority renters.
Duggan lobbied the state legislature to exempt Detroit from the state wide ban on tax captures. The media is silent on structural racism because it has a duty to defend it. It does its jobl.
But the people are growing increasingly aware of the situation in Detroit. Corruption has permeated the courts, the voting apparatus, and most importantly the media.
So we are on our own to educated ourselves, inform our broader community and decide that we have a right to decent schools and libraries and home ownership and affordable housing, decent reliable public transportation.
This Saturday, July 8th at 12:00 noon, Detroiters for Tax Justice will meet at the Main Library. It's the finest fellow travelers one could find ! Join us and help us restore respect for Detroit.
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